A Brief History of Ragtime Music

[@Omegawerewolfx]

I am not a piano player, I am not a history buff, and I am not a big fan of ragtime or classical music, but I found the video interesting, well produced and entertaining.

[@derschwarzejulian7201]

simp

[@rolandjackson3149]

instablaster

[@erospalombini7103]

@@derschwarzejulian7201 Simp? The Piano was invented in Italy in the 1700's by: Bartomeo Cristofori. The Guitar was invented in Italy by: Gaentano Vinaccia and his brother Gennaro invented the Madeline. The Violin, Viola, Cello and other string instruments was invented by: Andre Amati and Gasparo Bertolotti. If it wasn't for my ancestors none of you Americans would be playing no string instruments. Sicilia Forza! 🇮🇹

[@atadbitahistory9660]

"I am not a piano player" "I am not a history buff" "I am not a big fan of ragtime" Can you stop hurting me here-...?

[@O5680]

Actually, Joplin was never a laborer. His father was, though. Also, Joplin was musically educated. He went to George R. Smith College between 1895 and 1899.

[@josephrogers9796]

James Reading n

[@kimbillro]

He played the piano since a little boy. He was not a laborer. If he were to live today I am sure that as a composer with his abilities he would be filthy rich. Instead he died at 49 from syphilis with little money as the attractive lady stated in the KZbin video. He can't be blamed for getting syphilis due to the fact that he played his rag time in brothels that smelled like pussy laud come. @@josephrogers9796

[@ash01333]

Bill Pill lmao bruh

[@alitlweird]

@@kimbillro 🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮 So gross!! 😆😆

[@itsRemco]

I've uploaded the real Scott Joplin documentary by Rudi Blesh

[@Lizuma]

I LOVE ragtime music my favorite is Maple Leaf Rag its beautiful music!!!

[@JessJess347]

my favorite is entertainer

[@PianoByT2023]

Maple leaf rag is so fun to play by far my favourite too 😁

[@moomin_arts2204]

tee cee wait you can play it?

[@arrrs4944]

Everyone loved The Sting when it came out. I became hooked on Scott Joplin at a ceremony, maybe for his birthday, that was open to the public at his gravesite in Astoria, Queens. They had someone play the Maple Leaf Rag on an upright piano they brought there. Years later I visited Casa Loma in Toronto where they had a soundtrack playing the Maple Leaf Rag and I was hooked. I live in St. Louis now, have been to the Scott Joplin House here, but not to the Sedalia Festival yet. I took up playing piano 10 years ago and have focused almost exclusively on ragtime, right now I'm spending time practicing The Cascades, which was beatifully written.

[@josephgonzales1815]

I've studied art history, including music history, very extensively, and l find your pianoTV videos just super super entertaining. I am particularly taken when you open your eyes wide before the camera to make a point - it's delightful.

[@laurencegray4720]

After watching this video and reading all of the comments, I would like to recommend a few books in case anyone wants to learn more about ragtime music. I recommend that you start with "They All Played Ragtime" by Rudi Blesh and Harriett Janis. Next I recommend "Ragtime A Musical And Cultural History" by Edward A. Berlin (he also wrote a biography of Scott Joplin). Both David A. Jasen and Terry Waldo have written interesting and informative books on ragtime. I cannot remember the titles of Jasen's books but I do remember that Waldo's book is titled "This Is Ragtime".

[@witneyskye5556]

Excellent video! Thank you for sharing your knowledge. It is obvious to me that you have a great passion for music history. It is kept alive when younger people value the music of past generations. My first experience with Joplin was with 'The Sting.' I think I was 10 and all ears. There was something so attractive about it. I have the sheet music my dad gave me in 1972. Good as new. The sound of Ragtime never gets old for me.

[@dipierro4]

Great job, & thinks for the presentation! I remember-- In the early 1970's, some people thought that Rifkin's versions were too "classical" and missed the point of the music. But I like them: If a piece is great, there's more than one way to play it, and different approaches to a piece bring out different dimensions of it. There's room for Rifkin's versions ad also for more "swinging" versions.

[@vilstef6988]

Lamb's Ragtime Nightingale is really beautiful!

[@Kuijl1]

Very informative video! However Ragtime was not like Classical music to be played exactly as written. To quote the famous Ragtime composer Eubie Blake about the repeats 'First time play it was written, second time play it as you like it' (there are a few exceptions like Joseph Lamb who indeed didnt want his Rags to get "enchanced"). Also many famous Ragtime pianist these days don't play the Rags exactly as written, except for a few like Joshua Rifkin.

[@mikeksiazek]

Kuijl1 i disagree. many pieces were written in rondo format. scott often wrote on his music: "it is never right to play ragtime fast"

[@Kuijl1]

Well the tempo's are an other discussion. Indeed most Ragtime music is marked as like you say. However there is evidence about the tempo's for example Joseph Lamb's Ethiopia Rag is marked as Slow March Tempo with 100bpm. 100bpm is faster then most people would think of a Slow March Tempo. What i was reffering too is about adding extra notes or playing the same notes on a different octave. If you listen to Joplin's original piano rolls like Maple Leaf Rag and Weeping Willow you will notice he also changes octaves and adds many others notes.

[@mikeksiazek]

Kuijl1 piano rolls played at one tempo, nor did it adjust for stoccatas (i hope i spelled it right) or slurs, or pianisimos or fortes

[@Kuijl1]

Again the tempo's are an other discussion. I myself also prefer Rags to be played slower. What i was referring to in my first post are the change of notes, adding notes, different octaves etc. I can recommend to read the book "They all played Ragtime" and search for interviews with Eubie Blake and you will see what i mean.

[@mikeksiazek]

Kuijl1 somewhere there is rare recording with eubie and meeting scott and explains how scott used to like to play his own music extra slow just to listen to the harmonies

[@ellenfagan4338]

This is a wonderful tutorial! I have been obsessed with the genre since 1973 when the movie THE STING re-popularized it. I learned a lot here!

[@merryhunt9153]

Thanks. You spent a lot of time preparing this, and I appreciate it.

[@IOxyrinchus]

Goddamn I love Scott Joplin, such an incredible pianist and composer. I just love learning his pieces. I just recently finished the maple leaf rag and it's one of the funnest pieces I play (although learning it took a very very very long time, even just practising the left hand alone was a great challenge) and now that I've finished maple leaf, I just can't stop, I'm addicted to playing his pieces because they're so fun. Trust me, learning his stuff is a huge challenge and will take a lot of time but keep going, it's worth it in the end

[@stevevukich8958]

good to hear! Have you heard any Fats Waller? (Stride) esp. "I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter"

[@leavesofchange]

That’s my exact experience of learning ragtime: i am a very amateur averagey musician- I enjoy it to relax. Glad I’m not the only one who found this challenging to learn. But after months tapping away I love playing it. It makes me feel sophisticated

[@romeyjomey4539]

Back Country Pastimes I totally agree, once you learn maple leaf rag it’s so fun and addicting to play

[@ApartmentKing66]

And hopefully, "Maple Leaf Rag" will go from being one of the "funnest" pieces to one of the "most fun" pieces you play. Good luck!

[@outwiththem]

i love the happiness of silent movies with ragtime music. Perks me up in the morning.. Makes me start cleaning the house. with rags. Ragtime..

[@heronimousbrapson863]

One of the most beautiful ragtime pieces ever written is "The Graceful Ghost" rag composed by William Bolcom in the early 1970's, I believe.

[@jacobbernard1393]

lol, I felt so gratified when you mentioned what a pain the Maple Leaf Rag is; I just starting learning it, and it's rough, no lie!

[@mr.mohagany8555]

Haha, Joplin was hooking people up with jobs left and right. I love the sound of ragtime. Sounds so chaotic and jumbled but also precise. Reminds me of people having a good time during a barroom brawl.

[@ApartmentKing66]

While "The Sting" gave the ragtime piano genre a second wind, the genre was featured anachronistically in that movie. If I remember correctly, the movie was set in 1936, when the swing era was well underway. But you heard no Goodman, no Dorseys, no Artie Shaw, Count Basie, or Duke Ellington.

[@davidhead4983]

Love documentary video, brief but full of insightful information. The presenter was appealing also...

[@curiousassortment]

This is good as an intro to the genre. What I would like to know about (a future vid?) is how the written 16th notes got transformed into the dotted rhythms we hear so often in ragtime, and, how the tempos got to be so upbeat after Joplin's admonition not not play rags too fast.

[@freak49]

I love ragtime!! If your a guitarist and want to tackle classic ragtime, strap yourself in. Ragtime guitar is NOT for the faint of heart

[@taraanamusichutoxitavadia2260]

Super. I have always loved ragtime music. It's very uplifting.

[@wrecktangle]

The first published ragtime song was by Ben Harney. "You've Been a Good Old Wagon but You Done Broke Down" was published in 1895. Worth a mention perhaps.

[@bluesmusicandwhatnot2845]

I'm not quite sure this is the case, as Ernest Hogan's "La Pas Ma La" was published the same year. I have not been able to find exact dates for either compositions.

[@NoahSpurrier]

Definitely a huge influence on my appreciation of music.

[@27andyD]

only been playing for six months and a big fan of rag time so I'm giving it a go,ive sort of mastered the 1st 8 or 9 bars of maple leaf rag all be it slow (compared to some of the videos I think ive stopped).but it makes me happy and to me that's what playings all about.

[@tedlassagne8785]

Thanks for a very good capsule history of ragtime. It's still very much alive. You might want to give a shout-out to Max Morath who helped keep ragtime alive through the jazz years.

[@bluemoose2497]

The force is strong with this one, she knows more than most...

[@WC_Beer_Reviews]

I live in Sedalia. The history of ragtime is all over the downtown area. The festival is fun, but not as much of a big deal as it used to be. Doesn't help that it starts in the middle of the week.

[@itsRemco]

Really great video and fun to watch thanks!

[@NeverWolf]

It started as Piano Genre but when both a pianist and tenor banjoist play together it takes its ultimate form.

[@nedludd3641]

I used the Covid Lockdown to learn keyboard. The Alfred 'Learn to play piano' book for adults is a delight. There are a couple of simplified versions of Scott Joplin which took me forever to play, but I love them. 'The Entertainer' makes me smile, 'Solace' (aka 'Mexican Serenade') centres me. I'm a rubbish player but ragtime makes me happy. :)

[@karenryder6317]

I never liked "the Entertainer" because I thought it was too repetitious and too simple. Bur once I heard "maple leaf rag" I became a big fan. To me it has a much more complex and engaging sound.

[@mikmop]

I'm a fingerstyle guitarist and I have attempted over the years to play both Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer on acoustic guitar. In the 1970s, there was a book published called The Art of Ragtime Guitar that got me interested in this genre. I don't think it ever evolved natively on the guitar, so it was more an attempt to emulate the genre retrospectively. As a Fingerstyle guitarist, it's great being to play a few ragtime tunes.

[@Kirke182]

I never heard of Joplin being a railway worker. As far as I know, he was a professional musician all his adult life.

[@angharadhafod]

For Joseph F. Lamb, try something like Ragtime Nightingale. You might then want to change your mind about your "emotionally investing" statement at 8:14. Also check his "Ragtime Treasures" collection, published in 1964 (!). I'm lucky enough to have a copy, but I see it's retailing online now for upwards of $200!

[@gearheadmn]

Random comment but- if that's your ACTUAL handwriting, I love it. You may think it's blah but I think it's fascinating.

[@eltonwild5648]

These types of videos are amazing. You have a nice way of teaching things!

[@stephenbahrmarbles]

Terrific stuff! 💥 thank you !

[@PDXVoiceTeacher]

As a southpaw I have say that, when it comes to Ragtime, I'm all about the bass.

[@mondon656]

Great video - thanks for making and sharing.

[@AndrewTheRadarMan]

Chromatic rag has to be my favorite ragtime song

[@sylvia4425]

Omg, I got way more out of this than my jazz history class at community college! 👍😊Loved it.

[@SandroPoa2006]

Thank you for sharing the ragtime information.

[@philipdubuque9596]

Great historical overview of the history of ragtime. Well done !

[@noirekuroraigami2270]

This was not good at all

[@pravoslavn]

EXCELLENT job. Thank you for this !

[@eydiguttason1961]

Very helpful understandable of the rag thanks a lot I',m beginning learning rag and stride God bless

[@septobus]

I unexpectedly ended up loving every single one of these. Frog Legs is a great tune

[@PianotvNet]

Right??

[@karenryder6317]

I was impressed with "Frog Legs" also. It had a very bright, cheerful sound.

[@alitlweird]

Nice history lesson! Thanks! My Dad always played Scott Joplin tunes on our piano when I was growing up. (1970s/80s) He still plays them. Subscribing to this channel! 🤩🎹🎹🎹❤️

[@blueshifter]

Excellent, thank you. Your Maple Leaf is swung, though!

[@therealludwigvanbeethoven1903]

After saying it should be played as written.

[@crcc23]

Great video as always. I would talk a bit about Jelly Roll Morton in that transition between ragtime and jazz.

[@antisocial_socialite]

I was introduced to ragtime from Music 101 which I'm taking now. I always have heard ragtime music but associated it with racism, but after learning more about it, as a music lover I understand how much this music played in the history of all the genere's that exist now.

[@leticiahuarez2855]

yes. gorgeous eyes. yay ragtime!

[@emm_arr]

Excellent video. Thank you.

[@samaval9920]

Cakewalk & Ragtime were US’s 1 st 2 dance music, dance, song. exports.

[@michaelraebermudez3515]

Very interesting! This was a great a video for me to spring board off of and continue exploring the genre. I enjoyed music history. It really helps give context to me as a student. Keep 'em coming! Great job :)

[@certaindeed]

Wow. I had never heard of...Joseph Lamb. I've been listening to his work after finding this video. His work is amazing...many of his rags are gentle and have harmony. His later ones are even more advanced. His last recording in his home is good...and not played fast...Joplin style

[@gavinoh7132]

“Fast and syncopated” - Allysia 1:11 Look at tempo marking Also, “Ragtime should not be played fast” - Scott Joplin

[@MegaSuperCritic]

GODrumming I imagine he meant “don’t play lightspeed”. They were still played in dance time, which is by no means slow

[@angharadhafod]

This is a bit of an odd one. For example, Joplin often wrote "Not fast. It's never right to play ragtime fast" on his rags, but evidence suggests he often did just that.

[@TheTrueAltoClef]

Electro Swing is basically EDM Ragtime

[@wesleywattley9293]

Pain & racism within expressed beautiful changes.rhythmic classical standard of excellence hook him up

[@Kirke182]

There is an alternate version of how the term "ragtime" came about. Starting in the 1880s, the blacks in places like Topeka, KS were doing these dances called rags and it is believed that this music started off as accompaniment for these dances and written in the timing required to perform them and so was called ragtime.

[@chypfrog]

Enjoying your series. Have you thought of a video on Louis Moreau Gottschalk. He was a precursor and influencer(?) of ragtime. Perhaps the first American serious composer. He also led a pretty colorful life.

[@KalpaHettiarachchi]

Interesting ❤❤❤

[@myth1032]

Loving the videos, keep up the good work!

[@TymexComputing]

Pijano tiwi? Thank you for the ragtime genre explanation - i knew about Joplin (Scott) but today found out "if i had a chicken" song :)

[@Opoczynski]

Joshua Rifkin, great performer of Joplin's Piano Rags.

[@Jenny_bell_key]

So very interesting. Listening to ragtime always makes me so happy.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Merci beaucoup for this. It touched home with the dates and the histories of these composers. My Grandparents were born about the same time as Lamb and Scott. My Grandmother used to play piano for silent movie houses also. Joplin died in the year my Dad was born. And I started piano at 65 years of age, like my Mother. I'm still a Newbie, but am trying to learn my scales and arpeggios using a ragtime base pattern, root, 3&5 together, 5 an octave below, and 3&5 together. Maybe silent movies will become a thng again?

[@Fogmeister]

This video is great. Also… I’ve played The Entertainer and Maple Leaf Rag for years and never knew that Scott Joplin was a black guy. I had always associated this style of music with white mid-south America. I feel ashamed and now more educated. Thanks for the video.

[@rockandrollguy]

There was actually some blues ragtime in the 30s which was played by blind Willie McTell and others I’d give it a listen it’s pretty cool

[@wesleywattley9293]

Joe lamb the imitation confirmed fact

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

Fascinating history. I always associate ragtime with black and white cartoons.

[@fatherjack3088]

Maple leaf rag is tough maple leaf rag is one of the first songs i learned on piano. And yes song because lyrics were written for it some where around 1901

[@ifyoueverfind78]

you are knowledgable, and accurate on and about piano etc...and more so then others. very good.

[@stevemcqueen7735]

You never mentioned the Blues but went right to jazz. Did this effect the Blues in anyway?

[@jmcosmos]

Now I'mma quarrel with you about ragtime being "fast." The inventor of the form himself, Scott Joplin, specifically said "Ragtime should NEVER be played fast." He was far more invested in accurate and clean performance than in being a speed demon. The custom of playing ragtime at breakneck speed came along after WWII, when white players co-opted it and turned it into a showoff genre, sacrificing everything for sheer velocity. This is why Rifkin's recordings on Nonsuch in the 1970s were such eye-openers: he gave the music room to breathe, and to be heard in its full complexity.

[@thaincrediblemaier]

Just a question, hope nobody gets upset: How did Scott Joplin have success and a publishing deal with all the racism and segregation going on at the time?

[@mikeksiazek]

bad hair .day racism wasnt that large. scott was considered a musical genius. the first roller derby big star was black. my child hero was ronnie Robinson jr. also, earnie banks. some people are known for their talents, not their skin color. Some people are known for their skin color...now thats racism

[@bonniekuhn1366]

Actually Joplin lived and worked in the Jim Crow era, which was institutionalized racism on steroids.

[@cliffterry6655]

As the video states, Joplin played in Missouri during the zenith of his career. Relatively speaking, Missouri was more tolerant of blacks than the deep South, like his native Texas. St Louis in particular, had a thriving district where black entrepreneurs operated saloons and bars known as the Chestnut Valley True this was also the "red light" district of the city but it offered talented musicians, like Joplin, Scott, and Turpin the opportunity to earn a decent living. By today's standards, the Ragtime era (1985-1917) this society was racist, but for its time, this was considered a tolerable and enlightened place. There was even a number of whites in St Louis, like ragtime publicist, John Stark who recognized the genius of the black ragtime composers and did everything possible to promote their style of play. I believe its a common mistake to judge a time, using today's standards.

[@cliffterry6655]

Sorry, I meant the Ragtime era was 1895-1917

[@allardfreichmann3733]

Well you only have to look at the photo's of Scott Joplin and others. It explains a lot.

[@peterblack3665]

My Mother’s friend belonged to a Ragtime club who raised money to buy a headstone for Mr. Joplin’s grave.......

[@423gtrman]

You might want to read the book The Magic City by Ann Matheny. She is a historian living in Middlesboro Kentucky. This is where Benjamin Harney lived in 1890. As The Story Goes he is the first person to publish music using the genre name ragtime.

[@mxfern854]

Great video and very informative

[@jimharris8597]

Great video and I can't tell you all the things I picked up..!!

[@mcpeck]

Nice video, thank you! I was trying to figure out if Ragtime was influenced by Vaudeville music and how both of those genres influenced Blues. Could you possibly answer those questions?

[@Eliteguitarschool]

Thank you!

[@jasonsnusberry3654]

the background music is maple leaf rag, BY SCOTT JOPLIN

[@HighWideandHandsome]

I'm shocked that "The Entertainer" wasn't mentioned. Or did I miss it?

[@kennethflorek8532]

It was mentioned in connection with the revival of ragtime in the 1970's and the movie "The Sting" in which that tune is the theme song and became a huge hit. I remember you could not go anywhere without hearing that tune.

[@Kirke182]

YOu missed it.

[@nedludd3641]

Even during the Second World War, sheet music was immensely popular. The BBC would play band music on the radio specifically without the lyrics because they found factory workers would stop work to jot down the words if they played Bing, Sinatra or The Andrew Sisters actually singing. People made their own music, we forget that.

[@JN-kk4nk]

Very nice thanks

[@nathalieschneersohn712]

thanks so much this video was super helpful :)

[@slendiboi9324]

It all started for me with the ice cream trucks of my youth.

[@krystaflores7659]

Ragtime 1893 Do one on boogie woogie...its been around since 1870.

[@johnb6723]

Or even earlier. Try 1822 (part of Beethoven sonata no. 32 - 2nd movement 3rd variation has a boogie woogie feel).

[@curtpiazza1688]

Great video! 😂

[@Fogmeister]

I wonder if Joplin would ever have imagined a video game 100 years later with a soundtrack inspired by his ragtime music?! 😂 A lot of the Super Mario games have some very cool ragtime themes in it.

[@mojtabarafizadah7702]

Hard labor is no one’s cup of tea

[@purearab772]

Scott Hayden was one as well I thought

[@wachamcaulid]

0:23 "adapted to other instruments" usually piano(of course) and voice as I've seen used "seen" because of scanning sheet music

[@wachamcaulid]

most sheet music for other instruments are usually arrangements

[@chiangui24]

This is great.

[@Bigandrewm]

One might include Louis Moreau Gottschalk as the original ragtime composer, or at least a very close parent. Also, on the other end, there are notable jazz musicians that incorporated ragtime strongly into their music, such as Count Basie and Art Tatum.

[@Kirke182]

La Pas Ma La by Enest Hogan was the earliest published rag although Harney was definitely a pioneer of the genre.

[@Kirke182]

I wouldn't consider Gottschalk ragtime. In fact, Gottschalk sounded like nobody else before him or since.

[@lunarmodule6419]

Great video thx

[@Mrfailstandstil]

I love how the second guy was like yeah I'm one of the 3 legends piano players bud meh.. I want to do accounting now so yeah..

[@LEXICOGRAFFER]

Could the emergence of the term"ragtime" have anything to do with a psychology of embracing physical poverty and deciding to be happy in the face of it? I'm guessing yes.

[@SQUAREHEADSAM1912]

I’ve always been told, all of the big three personally knew each other.

[@mikeksiazek]

its considered classical because many pieces are played in rondo form. also, scott never wanted his music to be played fast. heliotrope bouquet was co written by louis chauvin. euphoric sounds is a joplin piece that leaves you wondering if its ragtime or just a nice classical piece. ragtime nightingale is awesome too. not written by joplin. and i concur with joshua rifkin, if played the way it is written, scott joplin deserves to be in the category of classical.

[@HighWideandHandsome]

Very few ragtime pieces, if any, are in rondo form. Most are in AABBACCDD form, which is traditional march form, something the uploader failed to mention as a ragtime influence.

[@davidcavalari226]

It is considered classical by white conservatory-trained musicians. It was absolutely NOT classical music, which is why Scott Joplin had to go out of his way to try to convince people that it belonged in the concert hall. Ragtime was popular dance music for young people, which is why old people thought it was devil music at the time. Ragtime sheet music was written to sell sheet music, and was therefore simplified. Professional ragtime pianists NEVER played exactly what was written on the sheet music. The entire point was to show how unique and creative you could be. It was like jazz. As for playing it "slow": We have recordings of people like Eubie Blake, who was literally there during the ragtime era playing ragtime music (and was far more admired as a ragtime pianist than Scott Joplin was). He played fast all the time as well as slow. There isn't one correct tempo for a ragtime piece.